The Kremlin says that Putin learned "through the media" of the conviction of journalist Ivan Safronov

MADRID, 6 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Kremlin has assured this Tuesday that the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has learned "through the media" of the sentence to 22 years in prison for high treason against the journalist Ivan Safronov, adviser to the Roscosmos space corporation accused of espionage after leaking information about Russia.

"I cannot say if the president has news about the verdict, although with a high level of certainty I can assume that he has found out through the media," said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dimitri Peskov, according to the report. Russian news agency TASS.

"I have no right to comment on this decision of the courts," added Peskov, one day after the Russian Justice announced what has already become the most severe applied by the courts of the Eurasian country in recent years. under crimes of high treason.

Last week, the Russian Prosecutor's Office requested a 24-year prison sentence against the journalist who, between 2015 and 2019, "discovered" and "collected" top-secret information about Russia's military-technical collaboration with the rest of its partners. of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, as well as with other countries in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans.

Safronov was arrested on July 7, 2020 and placed under arrest by court decision. The Prosecutor's Office considers that Safronov would have collaborated since 2012 with the secret services of the Czech Republic, through which he allegedly provided the United States with information regarding technical and military cooperation between Russia and African countries.

Before being hired by Roscosmos, he worked for the newspapers 'Kommersant' and 'Vedomosti', where he wrote mainly on military and space-related topics. From Roscosmos they assured that the case is not related to his work in the company, where he has been working since May 2020.